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Preserve Lakeland - Pickle a Park! |
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Written by Peter Burgess
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Monday, 10 September 2007 |
Erosion scars the size of motorways, heritage properties vandalised, beauty spots ruined and wildlife decimated. I guess to many who hold the Lake District dear to their heart, any change in the Lake District could be seen as detrimental. With the recent success of the Lake District to raise its profile on the television with programmes such as 'Wainwright Walks' and 'Britain's Favourite View' many could be forgiven for thinking that the Lake District could soon be overridden by hoards of tourists seeking some wilderness escape from their perceived unhappy urban existance. The prophetic opening sentence couldn't come true could it? Or has it already come to pass?
Ironically in the last five hundred years at least, the face of the Lake District has changed greatly. To many, Lakeland is a natural landscape, but what you see today is the product of many centuries of artificial interference. From the days when Neolithic humans gathered their cliff hewn axe heads from the face of Pike o'Stickle to the modern day developments of the tourist industry, Lakeland has been a centre of economic development. Indeed, in Elizabethan times the area was a major centre of industrial production from iron ore to gunpowder.
If the changes discussed had happened over a ten year period in the 1950s, we would be outraged. The loss of 2000 square kilometres of woodland, the construction of at least 5000 dwellings and the development of 1000 kilometres of road network would verge on environmental disaster, but in its longer history this is what the Lakeland we know today has absorbed. Change can be gradual.
So what if there's an extra 1000 people a day venturing onto the fells? What shall we do, provide road entry toll systems on the A591 like those in the USA's major National Parks? Of course we have to be careful of change and groups like ourselves do good to highlight possible environmental or associated detrimental developments. We at least can discuss things from a vaguely informed perspective.
The Lake District could be preserved like a formeldahyde drenched museum specimen for future generations, but would this really benefit the people of this country. We could've preserved literature years ago by pickling Shakespeare! Many of us may state a claim in Lakeland and from a selfish whim wish to keep the Lakes for ourselves. I am sure AW sometimes reflected on the success of his very own guides, but at some time or another the beauty of this region would've been discovered one way or another. I agree with dave Brown when he says, "If these programmes open up the fells to more people that is fine by me. We have no right to complain about more boots on the fellsides whilst we walk along them ourselves." The important factor is that the people who visit the region and influence it, need to be informed enough to care and respect it in the same way many generations have done before. I am sure many people in this club care very dearly about Lakeland and do all they can to preserve what they venture forth to see. For the person who smashes a glass vase might just say, "I am sorry, but I'll replace it by buying another." However, when they learn that the Portland Vase is a priceless first century BC Roman cameo glass vase and irreplacable, what are they to do? Is the Lake District an equally precious Portland Vase?
I think therefore, that people who come to Lakeland should place more value on what they do by their visit. The term National Park is a misnomer. It is not a place to come and kick a football or walk the dog, but a National Preserve which needs cherishing. I can walk across my road and into my local open space without paying a fee and I would be outraged here in London if I had to. However, when I travel north of Watford and pay £4 to park up for a whole day whilst I venture in natural splendour on the fells I should feel honoured to be able to partake in such delight. The victorian view that the environment is there for the taking or exploitation did not hold true then and should not hold true now. Granted, people should have rights to roam and see this fantastic island of ours, but as the old adage goes, "There's no such thing as a free dinner". I strongly believe that if numbers of visitors increase there is going to be an upsurge in the amount of environmental degradation whether intended or not. The idea that open spaces are a free resource might just need challenging. I guess in the long run some of us should expect to take things less for granted and if that means an extra £5 to Fix the Fells or The Woodland Trust then perhaps we shouldn't grumble but think of it as the norm. Whilst we live on this planet we have a duty to be stewards. We are just tennants renting our time, when we are gone our beloved Lakeland will hopefully endure, but only if we all do our part.
Ad altiora!
Peter Burgess |
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"It was great to see so many old friends again and to meet new people who have now become familiar names on the message board." Jill Rowland on the Honister 2007 weekend
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